In March of 2003, I was very pleased to see
twelve of Taiwan’s endemic species over an eight day period. On
the last day of our trip we were birding in Yangminshan National
Park where we saw our first Formosan Whistling-thrush, as well
as a variety of other birds. I was beginning to wonder if we
would find the magpies, when suddenly we heard their calls and
three birds appeared! The large size, the striking blue bodies
and red bills made this a memorable sighting; the fact that this
sighting happened on my birthday made it even more memorable. I
now think of the Taiwan Magpie as my “Birthday Bird”.

My first sighting of Swinhoe’s Pheasant came
after a long walk in the rain, along a muddy trail on Bei Dong
Yen Mountain. We had been walking very quietly, watching
carefully around the bends in the trail, hoping to spot
pheasants. On our way back, after seeing many interesting birds
but no pheasants, suddenly we heard movement along a steep
slope, and the sounds of large birds taking off. We looked out
in time to see two magnificent male Swinhoe’s Pheasants emerging
from the mist and flying rapidly along the hill, their silver
backs shining. A great cheer went up from everyone at this
unforgettable sight.

On my first visit to Taiwan in 2003 I had
missed the Mikado Pheasant. I was therefore hoping to encounter
this species on my second trip, in July 2006. My wife Gloria
and I were traveling with Jo Ann MacKenzie, Simon Liao and
Chin-Ye Ko in the mountains. One late afternoon, moving
carefully along a road where Mikado’s Pheasants were often seen,
we searched carefully without success. We tried again next day
in the early morning, and suddenly several birds were seen
walking in long grass by the roadside. At first we were unsure
of their identities, but upon stopping to look more closely, we
saw that they were Mikado’s Pheasants! These seemed to be all
females or immature birds, but I was still very impressed at
their size and rich brown markings. I look forward to seeing
the male of this species in the future.

The Yellow Tit is one of the most elegant of
small birds with its clean, neat black crest accented in white
along the outer edge, its black back, light blue wings and its
bright lemon yellow underparts. This bird is very active and
often travels through the forest in flocks with other bird
species. These characteristics make it a challenge to get good
close looks at this bird. I observed this species on both trips
to Taiwan, and upon seeing a group of three birds with a mixed
flock in Aowanda National Forest in July 2006, I obtained some
distant pictures as they moved quickly through the foliage. I
hope to have the opportunity to obtain much closer photographs
of this beautiful species some day.